


A hope on cliffs

by Cosmic_Iguana



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Annie is softer, Armin is soft, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, Neck Kissing, Nothing at all explicit, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-21 21:20:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30028002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cosmic_Iguana/pseuds/Cosmic_Iguana
Summary: “There was never a future in store for me. So I never wasted sleep thinking about it. But when you talk about yours...I want them to come true, Armin. I want you to be happy,”“It could be ours,” He responds, and his hand leaves her hip to caress her cheek. Stroking the space between her cheeks and just under her eyes. “Somewhere, sometime, in another life. I think we deserve to live for ourselves after everything that’s happened to us,” He adds….
Relationships: Annie Leonhart/Armin Arlert, Armin Arlert/Annie Leonhart
Comments: 4
Kudos: 90





	A hope on cliffs

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very short thing I whipped up in two days and went 'I've slaved away for hours I think this good enough' I've been in a bit of a slump as of late but this managed to be conjured from that slump so here is some peace and romance from my favourite ship between my favourite characters...

Sunlight was spilling in through the nearby window. Pouring glowing, warm, and natural arrays of colours into the bedroom like the mosaic halls of a cathedral. Igniting their surroundings with the hues of a campfire’s flames; washing over their faces as the brightness slowly stirs them awake.

At some point during the night, their limbs had untangled and they slept on either edge of the bed. Annie slowly opened her eyes and was met with the brunt of the white wall, a minor deflation tugged at her chest from the boring sight. Then a soft breath tickled the back of her neck; the wispy, fresh scent of leather, from days spent suffering the tightness of the harnesses, saving her from complete disappointment. Then that woodsy smell he always got when he spent a day outside embraced her as she felt an arm curl around her sides. It reminded her of her garden back home, and she felt safe in his arms. And that odd ambrosial minty sweet smell he somehow possessed filled her nose as she turned over. Greeted by the picture perfect sight of Armin laying beside her.

His eyes were closed, but as she nestled closer to him the hint of a smile working its way on his lips gave away his act. She pressed her fingers over his wrist that was holding her waist, stroking his arm as she travelled along it to settle her fingers on his neck. Playing with the hairs that were there until he finally gave in and opened his eyes.

“Hey,” He murmured. His voice pleasantly tired, his fondness for her still being there conveyed through a delicate breath that made her stomach flip. His morning voice was truly something to behold...

Often when the dawn broke, Annie would collect her things and withdraw from his room without a peep. He hated this, she was fully aware, and it took a great deal out of her to fight the temptation to stay under the covers with him. But better she steal away than let any of the others in on this secret of theirs. This morning however, she felt differently.

“Hey you,” She hummed, trailing his jaw with the tip of her finger. The sensation made his handsome smile grow ever more, and she was in awe at how more defined his face had become. So much time had passed between them...so much wasted time...he was older, so was she. And yet she could hear the eerie tick-tock of her mortality in the background...

“Nice to see you're still here,” The sound of his voice keeps her delving anywhere too dark.

“Yeah, you too,” And she meant it.  _ Still here, she was still here...enjoy it, Annie. _

His eyes, now open, were unwavering in their navigation of her face. She knew that look. Could hear the machinations in that mind of his whir as he balanced on the line between staying where he was or kissing her. Looking for evidence that she would withdraw if he leaned in. She was never one for many words, so he always looked for silent confirmation. 

Annie made the decision for him. Leaning in close till their lips touched, grazing together softly which earned a pleasant sound from him as she slowly drew her fingers to the back of his head. Carding her nails through his hair which she knew he loved. His fingers dug into her hip, no doubt keeping her in bed with him. Less she climbed out and left him alone like she normally did. Still, she found herself smiling into his lips as she traced circles into her skin with his thumbs. Like he was conducting some kind of rune that would compel her to remain here forever. 

“Do we have anywhere we need to be this morning?” She asked, pulling away. Not entirely keen on keeping him from any duties he had. Even if she was tempted to steal him away from the others.

“None,” He breathed. Indeed, a tension seemed to have fled from his shoulders as he said this. Peace washes over him, breathing new life into him. A rare sight for sure that made her heart soar for him. And told her that he wasn’t lying.

“Good,” She shuffles closer, resting her head against the warmth of his chest. Her ears pressing just over his beating heart. “Because I want to stay like this for a while longer,”

“These are rare moments” His chin meets her head. “We should enjoy them,”

As usual, Armin was right. She had never stayed till the morning, and the air between them danced with endless possibilities. She walked on the tightrope between luring him into a peaceful slumber held safely in her arms, or stirring something else within him. Drawing out the side to him only she ever got to see. And enjoy thoroughly.

“Annie?” He says, pulling her from these thoughts.

“Yes?”

He was silent, as if he hadn’t meant to start up a conversation. She kisses his chest, letting him know deep in his heart that he could tell her anything.

“If this ever ends...this chaos, this war. If there’s a chance this could all end peacefully...what would you do?”

The question takes her aback. The ambition slithering in his words, the naivety of it all, made her chest writhe and tighten. The mere thought of a possibility of a world devoid of hate and violence...it made her sad. Because it was not a reality. He knew this, yet he could not help entertain the idea. 

Truthfully, it was something she both loved and hated about him. His ambition, his hope and his idealism. It was everything she lacked and envied.

She preferred not thinking about it. But in truth, this was coming increasingly hard to avoid each time their lips met and each time touches lingered longer than they should. Such bittersweet memories that had not happened, and would never happen. Like she was mourning the death of a life she had never even known. She couldn't picture exactly what a life would be like with him. But enough was there to make her miss it. If things were different, she would ask him to marry her. A jarring proposition, coming from her, when some would say it should be coming from him. But she didn’t care. The question hung on the tip of her tongue more than once but she could not find the courage to utter it aloud. Because how could she? Maybe she was that selfish to give into the temptation of running away for good. But Armin most certainly was not.

“I don’t know, Armin,” She would not bring the world to this room. She would not bring its harshness and cruelty in this moment; shatter this peace and this rare instance of recluse with her coldness. Upon hearing the way his heart pitter-pattered like gushing rain, she sighed and decided she would humour him. “Why? What would you do?”

“I...have ideas,” He says hesitantly. “A house on a cliff. With winding stairs spiralling down onto a beach, perhaps,” His voice is tantalisingly soft, ebbing with hope and brightness for which she does not hear from him all that often. “Naive ideas,”

She pries away and looks him in the eyes. Holding his gaze. Then she begins pecking him on the lips, the chin, the cheek, the nose...

“What else?” She inquires in between kisses. Encouraging him.

She hears a chuckle emanate from him, like the rumble of thunder, as she continues in her path of igniting his skin with her lips. 

“Have you ever seen those circular windows? An odd thing to want, I know, but...I picture a house having one of those overlooking the beach. They’re different and they remind me of the library I used to go to when I was a kid. They had one there, you see,” He starts and she listens intently, drawing up this house he paints in her mind with his words as brushes.

“I’d have my own bookshelf. I only ever owned one book, the one that was branded as illegal contraband, so there was never any need to have one. Not that we could have even afforded one anyway. My grandfather had a few cookbooks but those weren’t interesting reads...I’d own lots of books, and keep them on a shelf,”

She smiles against his neck. “That sounds lovely,”

“I sound like I’m five,” He murmurs, laughing. 

“You don’t,” She finally finishes her journey back on his lips. Pressing into him eagerly. “Not at all,”

“You don’t dream about what could’ve been?” He asks her, hoping he was not alone in this.

“I’ve never given much thought to the future,” Her mind unfolds the dusty memories of towering over Shinganshina. Of running through the forest, the sounds of 3DM gear zipping through the air behind her like a swarm chasing after her. Of her father, the beatings and exercises creating sores in places she didn’t know existed. 

_ The burning, hot first feeling of transforming at will…of being told afterwards the price of this magnificent power... _

“There was never a future in store for me. So I never wasted sleep thinking about it. But when you talk about yours...I want them to come true, Armin. I want you to be happy,” 

“It could be ours,” He responds, and his hand leaves her hip to caress her cheek. Stroking the space between her cheeks and just under her eyes. “Somewhere, sometime, in another life. I think we deserve to live for ourselves after everything that’s happened to us,” He adds….

She nods. “I’d like that…”

There’s a brief smile exchanged between them. And for a moment, they exist in that little house on the cliff. He sits in that circular window with a book, and she hangs at his side overlooking the white breasts of the waves. And they live for themselves...

He kisses her, kissing the tears that fall like dewdrops across her cheeks as the cruel world settles back into reality. Their reality...

  
  



End file.
